


party time

by themebattle



Series: a world where things are better (END ROLL AU) [1]
Category: End Roll (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chris is a good friend, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, no beta bc i suck ig, so is gardenia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:54:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29200941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themebattle/pseuds/themebattle
Summary: Russell, six years after trying and failing to kill Tabasa, is now a full-on McNeil. He's 19, depressed and traumatized, but overall a healthier individual. He's spending time agonizing over how stagnant his life is when Chris invites him to a party. What happens at that party...?
Relationships: Chris & Gardenia, Russell & Chris, Russell & Gardenia, Russell & Gardenia & Chris
Series: a world where things are better (END ROLL AU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143944
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	party time

**Author's Note:**

> i know the title is stupid. i couldn't think of anything else sdkhfjsdhfj
> 
> anyway here is the first part of my passion/coping-with-the-end-of-end-roll project! it's an everybody lives, nobody dies au set six years after russell attempts to kill tabasa, but fails.
> 
> i am not writing what happens in those 6 years, all you need to know is russell got adopted by tabasa and also got a Ton of therapy in there, and chris decided to quit his shady jobs and apply himself in school to get a scholarship, which is how he managed to go to college.
> 
> also they all have designs if anyone wants to look at them! https://twitter.com/themebattle/status/1331789523446091780 (tho don't look if you don't want to be spoiled on what i'm doing with memory girl)

A meek little rabbit. That was what Russell could be compared to now, six years after attempting to kill a man. He failed, of course, and that’s what triggered the chain of events that, six years later, led him to where he was now: Adopted by the very man whose life he tried to snuff out. Sure, his life wasn’t perfect, and sure, he had issues...but he would have gone down a much darker path had he succeeded in killing Tabasa. Now, his parents were in jail, his emotions were no longer repressed, he had more than just one friend... By all means, things were going decently.

Russell wasn’t in school, nor did he have a job. He did some freelance writing on the side, but all it made him was a bit of pocket change. As it turns out, people don’t appreciate writers as much as they should. Tabasa got paid well as a head keeper at the zoo, so Russell felt no pressure to get a properly paying job. He felt a bit bad about not being in college when all his friends his age were, but Russell never adapted well to the school system. According to Chris, college was a lot different, but Russell wasn’t about to go and find out. He dropped out of high school, didn’t have the money to afford tuition anyway, and even if he did...What would he study? He liked learning things, especially about animals like rabbits and mice, but zoology wasn’t something he was interested in as a whole. Writing was something he enjoyed doing, but only on his own time. 

Russell felt like he was going nowhere in life. Usually, he’d be okay with that--he’d just stay home all day, writing, playing video games, caring for his pet rabbits... But when his friends were moving on without him, going to school, going out and having fun...he felt left out. He didn’t like that. What he’d do about it, he didn’t know, but...he sure felt that way.

He was about to head downstairs when the buzz of his phone distracted him. Picking it up, he noticed it was a text from Chris.

**chris:** hey man! wanna come to a party w me and gardenia?

**russell:** idk

  


**chris:** its gonna be all girls except me if you dont come...please? you can do your own thing in another room if you want

**chris:** i’ll just feel better with you there

Russell sighed. Parties weren’t exactly his scene--they were loud, obnoxious, and most of the time, alcohol was present. Him and alcohol didn’t mix, not after being surrounded by it for a majority of his life, a bottle of beer always in the hand of his abusive bastard of a biological father. One whiff of the stuff would send him spiraling down memory lane, and not the good memory lane. 

So on one hand, Russell absolutely did not want to go. But on the other hand, he had just been agonizing about his friends having fun without him...so this could be a good opportunity to get out and spend some time with them. But the alcohol…Russell really didn’t feel like having a panic attack over the smell of beer today--especially not in front of his friends. He wasn’t the most open about his trauma, but Chris knew enough about it to be aware of his bad association with alcohol.

Another buzz of his phone pulled Russell back to the conversation at hand.

**chris:** so? you comin? we’re leaving in half an hour!

**russell:** will there be alcohol there?

  


**chris:** nah

**chris:** everyone there is under 21 so its illegal, lol

**russell:** okay...i guess i’ll come

**chris:** great!! we’ll be there to pick you up soon

Russell put his phone down and glanced at his alarm clock. It was 4:30pm and he had only recently gotten out of bed, so he quickly got dressed and went downstairs to get something to eat. Tabasa was nowhere to be found, having left for work an hour or two ago. Peeking into the living room, he noticed Tabasa had fed and watered his rabbits, so he didn’t need to worry about that. All he needed to do now was eat and gather up his laptop to bring with him to the party--He figured he’d practice writing while there. He had a bowl of yogurt and headed back upstairs to get his things together.

It wasn’t long before Chris and Gardenia showed up at Russell’s door and drove him to the party. It wasn’t too far away, but his city wasn’t very big, so nothing seemed especially far away. Before he knew it, he was standing in the doorway of the party house, shrinking back into himself when he heard just how loud everything was. He wanted to go home already, but he had told Chris he’d come, so he couldn’t back out now. Clutching his laptop close to his side, he maneuvered through the crowd and found a secluded spot in one of the house’s office rooms. He set his laptop up and pulled his headphones on, putting his own music on full blast--he could handle loud music, but only when he was the one in control of the volume. He leaned forward in his seat and began writing. Chris and Gardenia would come and chat with him every so often, but other than that, he was left alone. That was good. Russell hadn’t come here to make friends. He wanted to write, and only write.

Russell had been writing for a good while, and decided he deserved a break, so he headed back to the living room to see what kind of refreshments were present. As he set foot into the room, a very familiar stench hit his nose—Beer. His heart began to pound and bile rose in his throat. The stench had sent him back to his old home, where he was a powerless child at the mercy of his drunk father, where every blow would leave a bruise that would stay for weeks. 

Russell’s eyes were wide and he wanted nothing more than to scope out the source of the smell and get as far away from it as possible. Glancing around the room, he saw multiple people with open cans in their hands and an open cooler next to the couch. There was a clear path to the front door, and he wasted no time getting there, practically bolting out the door. He heard someone say his name, but who it was and what exactly they said was lost on him. All he could focus on was getting out of there.

Russell shut the door behind him and hurried off the porch and onto the sidewalk, gasping for air. His heart was still pounding fiercely. He hadn’t expected there to be alcohol at this party, since there hadn’t been any when he arrived… but apparently, he was wrong to assume that. 

The fresh air helped ease his nausea a bit, but he struggled to breathe a little, and his legs were trembling. Russell decided to sit on the curb, focusing on breathing as he tried his best to recall all the coping mechanisms he had gone over with his therapist. But the images and memories of his father kept on coming, and coming and coming and coming, and they wouldn’t go away—

“Russell!”

Russell jumped and whirled around to see who called his name. Chris and Gardenia were running up to him, their faces scrunched up with worry.

“Russell, are you alright??” Gardenia asked, kneeling down beside him. She reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, but he flinched as she did, and she stopped trying. “I’m so so so sorry, I had no idea that anyone would bring alcohol…!” 

“Yeah, I...We’re all underage and I didn’t think any of us wanted to get in trouble, so I didn’t think it’d be a problem...” Chris added, frowning. “Man, I’m so sorry, Russ. This is my fault, I should have known--”

“It’s not your fault, Chris! It’s nobody’s fault but the idiots who brought the stuff in the first place.” Gardenia pouted at him. She turned back to Russell, who was looking at his feet. “We’re both really sorry, though. Chris told me you have bad associations with alcohol…” 

“...Yeah.” Russell said, pulling his legs closer to his chest.

“I didn’t tell her why or anything, cuz I figured that was real personal…” Chris added, sitting down on the other side of Russell. “But she was really confused as to why you rushed out so fast, so I had to tell her that. Sorry if you didn’t want her knowing...”

“No, it’s fine...” Russell replied. “I don’t want to talk about it, though. Can we just...go home?”

“Yeah, ‘course, we’ll drive you back.” Chris nodded. “Will Tabasa be there when you get back?”

Russell shook his head. “No, he works until midnight.”

“Want me to stay with you for a bit, then?”

“...Yeah, please.” Russell nodded. “...Thank you...”

_ Why do you care so much about me? I don’t deserve friends like you. _

It took everything the blond had not to say that last thought out loud.

  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! i have several more prompts i want to write out for this au so stay tuned ^^ i'm not too happy with the ending of this but it's as good as i'm gonna get it so i hope you liked it


End file.
